When he was first asked to kill Miami Subs founder Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, Dwayne Nicholson told a jury Thursday, he said no.

He could hurt the man. He could break his legs. But he wouldn't kill him.

But Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari, who had hired Nicholson for security and to help collect money from debtors, wouldn't take no for an answer, Nicholson said.

Testifying on the fourth day of a murder and conspiracy trial in Fort Lauderdale, Nicholson told jurors that Ferrari and Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello were determined in late 2000 to see Boulis dead, and they expected Nicholson to be the one to make it happen.

A few days after Nicholson told Ferrari he would not kill Boulis, Nicholson said, he found himself in the back seat of a car driven by Ferrari. Moscatiello was in the front passenger seat, Nicholson said, and the two spoke openly about the need to take care of Boulis.

Moscatiello asked Ferrari who was going to handle the job, Nicholson said; Ferrari gestured toward the back seat and said, "He will."

At that point, according to Nicholson, Moscatiello turned and addressed him directly. "I have to trust you," Moscatiello allegedly said, "because I trust him [Ferrari]. … If he says you're okay, I guess you're okay. I need Gus killed."

Nicholson said he was terrified and pretended to go along with the plot, believing Ferrari and Moscatiello to be connected to the Gambino crime family in New York.

"If I say no, I'm a liability," he told the jury Thursday. "I could not say no. I'm stuck. So I didn't say anything. I didn't say yes."

Moscatiello had been hired for protection from Boulis by businessman Adam Kidan, a partner in a fraudulent business plan to buy the SunCruz Casino boat fleet from Boulis in 2000. The relationship between Boulis and Kidan had grown sour after Boulis did not receive payments for the sale, and Boulis was threatening to regain control of the lucrative fleet.

Prosecutors say Moscatiello saw an opportunity for a steady stream of income from Kidan, an opportunity that would evaporate if he lost control of SunCruz. It was Moscatiello, and not Kidan, who decided that Boulis had to die, prosecutors say.

Boulis was gunned down in an ambush near his Fort Lauderdale office on Feb. 6, 2001.

Moscatiello and Ferrari face the death penalty if convicted.

Nicholson is not believed to be the shooter. He contacted authorities shortly after the murder to implicate Ferrari and Moscatiello. He told jurors that although he was solicited to commit the murder, he stalled for weeks, pretending to be trying to hunt Boulis down when in reality he stayed at home.

After Christmas of 2000, Nicholson said, he had a family reunion in Baltimore, and he stayed in that area for 10 to 14 days. He said he ignored and avoided Ferrari's phone calls.

Prosecutors believe the gunman who shot Boulis to death was a man named John Gurino, who was killed in a dispute with a Boca Raton delicatessen owner two years later.

After the murder, Nicholson said he overheard Ferrari talking to another suspect in the case, James "Pudgy" Fiorillo, who later admitted participating in the crime. Prosecutors say the man who shot Boulis was driving Fiorillo's Ford Mustang.

According to Nicholson, Ferrari threatened to kill Fiorillo for talking too much about the murder, but Fiorillo denied it.

Defense lawyer David Bogenschutz, who represents Moscatiello, tried to cast doubt on Nicholson's testimony Thursday by reminding jurors the witness was a convicted felon who benefited financially from the information he gave to investigators. Nicholson admitted receiving a $100,000 reward from Crimestoppers two years ago.